Obama's Inexperience Tough to Ignore
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 8:56 AM
By: Ronald Kessler, NY Times Bestselling Author
A close look at Barack Obama's career reveals it has been even more mediocre than generally recognized.
Before being elected to the Illinois state Senate, Obama worked as a community organizer and a lawyer in Chicago.
In his memoir, Obama says being a community organizer taught him how to motivate the powerless and work the government to help them. His chief example is an effort to remove asbestos from Altgeld Gardens, an all-black public housing project on Chicago's South Side.
But those who were involved in the effort say Obama played a minor role in working the problem and never accomplished his goal. A pre-existing group at Altgeld Gardens and a local newspaper, the Chicago Reporter, were working on the problem before Obama came on the scene, yet Obama does not mention them in his book, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance."
"Just because someone writes it, doesn't make it true," says Altgeld resident Hazel Johnson, who had been pushing for a cleanup of the cancer-producing substance years before Obama showed up.
Rep. Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., says it was Johnson's work, along with asbestos testing by the Chicago Reporter, that got Chicago officials interested in the issue. Rush, who launched an inquiry into the situation when he was a member of the Chicago City Council, says he is "offended" that Obama did not mention Johnson in his account.
"Was [Obama] involved in stuff? Absolutely," says Robert Ginsburg, an activist who worked with Johnson and Obama on the problem. "But there was stuff happening before him, and after him."
After three years working as an organizer, Obama could say he helped obtain grants for a jobs program and got asbestos removed from some pipes in the project. But as the Los Angeles Times has noted, the "large-scale change that was needed at the 1,998-unit project was beyond his reach." To this day, most of the asbestos remains in the apartments.
Fruitless though his efforts were, Obama devoted more than 100 pages to his experiences at Altgeld Gardens and surrounding areas. Michelle Obama has said his work as a community organizer helped him decide "how he would impact the world," assisting people to improve their lives. Yet, in a revealing passage in his book, Obama wrote, "When classmates in college asked me just what it was that a community organizer did, I couldn't answer them directly."
Instead, he said, "I'd pronounce on the need for change. Change in the White House, where Reagan and his minions were carrying on their dirty deeds. Change in the congress, compliant and corrupt. Change in the mood of the country, manic and self-absorbed. Change won't come from the top, I would say. Change will come from a mobilized grass roots."
Thus, Obama admitted that he accomplished little but that he was able to cover that up with fancy talk about change.
After going to Harvard Law School, Obama returned to Chicago, where he briefly headed a voter registration drive and then became a lawyer. While Obama's campaign has touted him as a civil rights lawyer, "Over the nine years that Obama's law license was active in Illinois, he never handled a trial and mostly worked in teams of lawyers who drew up briefs and contracts in a variety of cases," according to David Mendell's "Obama: From Promise To Power."
A review of the cases Obama worked on during his brief legal career "shows he played the strong, silent type in court, introducing himself and his client, then stepping aside to let other lawyers do the talking," the Chicago Sun-Times has reported.
"A search of all the cases in Cook County Circuit Court in which Obama made an appearance since he graduated from Harvard in 1991 shows: zero," the article said.
Instead, his practice was "confined mainly to federal court in Chicago, where he made formal appearances in only five district court cases and another five in cases before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — a total of 10 cases in his legal career," the paper said.
If Obama had virtually no impact as either a community organizer or as a lawyer, he was even more invisible in the state Senate and later in the U.S. Senate.
In both bodies, Obama had a reputation for voting "present," thus avoiding controversial decisions that could be used against him later. In the U.S. Senate, he has missed more than one in five votes.
Only one of the measures Obama has sponsored as a U.S. senator was enacted: a bill to "promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo."
Contrary to Obama's portrayal of himself as a unifier, on every bipartisan effort in the Senate to forge compromises on tough issues, Obama has been missing in action.
In sum, it would be difficult to imagine a more mediocre record. Most candidates for dog catcher have contributed more to society. Yet with the help of adoring reporters, Obama has managed to parlay extraordinary speaking and political skills into a presidential campaign built on sand.
The idea that America might entrust its security and future to someone who has never demonstrated an ability to get anything of significance done is scary.
Look for John McCain to begin exploiting this vulnerability after Labor Day.
Coming from the "left-leaning" New Yorker, this was quite a "racy" cover for them.
With sales for newspapers and mags falling across the country, was this a "stunt" to promote sales?
Or a jab because the New Yorker didn't get the "Hildebeast?"
Answer form team Barrack...
Quote"The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.
Though the truth should be/ is ...
...But most readers will see it as
tasteless accurate and
offensive predictive.
And we agree," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said.
(http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj216/marshalette/amd_newyorker-cover.jpg)
If the New Yorker cover had been a satire of McCain ...
... then it probably would've run in the National Review.
Here's P-I cartoonist David Horsey's idea of what it might look like.
(http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj216/marshalette/horseymccain.jpg)
Great post, Teresa! kinda quiet here... I do believe the Liberals have left the building. :'(
Just watching, just watching.
Warph, you know that Liberals never entirely vacate a building...they leave sentries behind to alert them to any new production on the part of the Conservatives!!!!!!! (SDM...only kidding...I couldn't let Warph's comment go! ::) ::))
Sorry to disappoint you Warph, I am more or less lurking this week and will probably remain in that mode until I can get off the pain meds. I am coping with a big case of shingles that are quite painful. When I respond I want to do it in my right mind and all facultys intact. :D :D Meanwhile I am watching you and the others, and must rely on the other democrats to carry the load for a little while.
SDM, I really feel for you...my dad has had shingles and he says they're excrutiating. Hang in there...can't wait until you're back to true form and giving Warph (and the rest of us!) what for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quote from: sixdogsmom on July 16, 2008, 08:50:11 PM
Sorry to disappoint you Warph, I am more or less lurking this week and will probably remain in that mode until I can get off the pain meds. I am coping with a big case of shingles that are quite painful. When I respond I want to do it in my right mind and all facultys intact. :D :D Meanwhile I am watching you and the others, and must rely on the other democrats to carry the load for a little while.
SDM, I will layoff of any Politics that are controversial until you get better. I have never had the shingles but have seen plenty that have and I know it is very uncomfortable. Truce on Politics, I will try, if I goof don't be to hard on me. In all seriousness I hope you get better soon, I wouldn't want your shingles to keep you from voting.
SDM, sorry to hear you are on pain meds for shingles. I hope you get to feeling better. I think some of the best posts on here are made by people that have to be on pain meds. Also, I know that for some people to make the posts that they make they too are definitely on pain meds; otherwise they would not say what they do. Nothing wrong with lurking but I bet you will just have to make a post.
Feel Better!
David
Thanks guys, I am improving daily, (I think). Just renewed a $250.00 prescription today, thanks to socialism it only cost me $52.00 though. ;D ;D There is an immunization that I highly recommend if you have had chicken pox and not had shingles. It is a bit expensive but well worth it IMO, believe me. Teds' doctors did not want me to have it since it is live virus and he would have been at risk with the immuno-suppression. I guess you only have shingles a couple of times in your life, and I can do without the second round thank you. :P :P
I have never had them but my poor grandma did and bless her heart.. she was in a whole heap of pain.
She couldn't set.. couldn't lay.. couldn't hardly move..
Everyone who has had them says that they are excruciating.
I hope you get better real fast.
What are you doing for the pain.. ( other than meds)?
Sorry to hear about the shingles, SDM. My sister had them once and I know how painful they must be. She used a Lidoderm Patch (lidocaine Patch 5%) made by Endo Pharmaceuticals to help with the pain. I understand that they are prescription. Each adhesive patch contains 700 mg of Lidocaine. They seemed to help her. You might ask your doctor about this. Hurry and get well.... Warph
I'm so sorry to hear about your case of shingles. :'( My youngest niece is battling it right now also...she's only 22...what gives? I took the zosta vax so hopefully I won't ever get it. Hang in there.
Thank you all for your concern, it goes a long way to making a person feel better inside. :-* :-* I am using Lortabs for the pain and they put me in zombie mode when I take them. I don't take one until that 'dart like' pain starts, then I give in. These are mostly on the back of my head into my ear and across to my cheek, so I have a lot of ear pain like earache. If I could figure a way to attatch Lidocain patch in there, I'd do it LOL! Ted has some of those he uses for his back now and again although they are VERY expensive!
Diane I have never heard of anyone so young as your neice having shingles. Usually they are an affliction for older folks so we can have an excuse to use drugs! Hope she is doing well and that they are under control.
By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
January 27, 2008
John Sidney McCain III entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1954. Young McCain wanted to become an admiral. He planned to be the "first son and grandson of four star admirals" to achieve such a distinction. But that was not to be. McCain III possessed none of the innate character and discipline traits that helped mold his father and grandfather into great military leaders.
His father, John S. "Junior" McCain, and grandfather, John S. McCain, Sr., were famous four-star Admirals in the U.S. Navy. His father commanded U.S. forces in Europe before becoming commander of American forces fighting in Vietnam. His grandfather commanded naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Both men became highly influential in U.S. Navy operations.
At the Academy, aside being known as a "rowdy, raunchy, underachiever" who resented authority, Cadet McCain became infamous as a leader among his fellow midshipmen for organizing "off-Yard activities" and hard drinking parties. Robert Timberg wrote in his book, The Nightingale's Song, that "being on liberty with John McCain was like being in a train wreck."
McCain's grades were "marginal." He drew so many demerits for breaking curfew and other discipline issues that he graduated fifth from the bottom of the class of 1958. Despite his low "class standing," and no doubt because of the influence of his family of famous Admirals, McCain was leap-frogged ahead of more qualified applicants and granted a coveted slot to be trained as a navy pilot.
Good Party Animal - Bad Pilot:
He spent the next two and a half years as a "naval aviator in training" at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, flying A-1 Skyraiders.
While a pilot trainee, McCain continued to party hard. He drove a Corvette and dated an exotic dancer named "Marie the Flame of Florida." Timberg wrote that McCain "learned to fly at Pensacola, though his performance was below par, at best good enough to get by. He liked flying, but didn't love it."
McCain Lost Five Military Aircraft
McCain, the "below par" pilot, eventually lost 5 military aircraft, the first during a training flight in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while trying to land. The Navy ignored the crash and graduated McCain in 1960.
While deployed in the Mediterranean, the hard partying McCain lost a second aircraft. Timberg described the crash: "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."
Unscathed, McCain returned to Pensacola Station where he was promoted to flight instructor for Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi. The airfield at Meridian, McCain Field, was named in honor of McCain's grandfather.
In 1964 McCain became involved with Carol Shepp, a model from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he had met at Annapolis. They were married in Philadelphia on July 3, 1965.
Flight instructor McCain lost a third aircraft while flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. Timberg wrote that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain parachuted onto a beach moments before his plane slammed into a clump of trees.
The Navy dismissed the crash as "unavoidable" and assigned McCain to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in December 1966, which was patrolling the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. In Spring 1967, the Forrestal was assigned to join the Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
McCain lost his fourth plane on board the Forrestal on July 29, 1967 when a rocket inadvertently slammed into his bomb laden jet. McCain escaped, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors. McCain was transferred from the badly damaged Forrestal to the USS Oriskany. Shortly afterwards, on Oct. 26, 1967, he was shot down and captured by the Vietnamese.
Post-POW Years: Political Ambition and a New, Young, Rich Wife
Upon his release from North Vietnam and return to the United States in 1973, McCain reunited with his wife, Carol, who had been permanently crippled in a car accident while he was a POW.
Still yearning to become an admiral, McCain enrolled in the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. and underwent physical therapy in order to fly again. The Navy excused his permanent disabilities and reinstated him to flight status, effectively positioning him for promotion.
Timberg described McCain's advancement: "in the fall of 1974, McCain was transferred to Jacksonville as the executive officer of Replacement Air Group 174, the long-sought flying billet at last a reality. A few months later, he assumed command of the RAG, which trained pilots and crews for carrier deployments. The assignment was controversial, some calling it favoritism, a sop to the famous son of a famous father and grandfather, since he had not first commanded a squadron, the usual career path."
While Executive Officer and later as Squadron Commander McCain used his authority to arrange frequent flights that allowed him to carouse with subordinates and "engage in extra-marital affairs."
This was a clear violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice rules against adultery and fraternization with subordinates. But, as with all his other past behaviors, McCain was never penalized; instead he always got away with his transgressions.
Timberg wrote, "Off duty, usually on routine cross-country flights to Yuma and El Centro, John started carousing and running around with women. To make matters worse, some of the women with whom he was linked by rumor were subordinates . . . At the time the rumors were so widespread that, true or not, they became part of McCain's persona, impossible not to take note of."
In early 1977, Admiral Jim Holloway, Chief of Naval Operations promoted McCain to captain and transferred him from his command position "to Washington as the number-two man in the Navy's Senate liaison office. McCain was promptly given total control of the office. It wasn't long before the "fun loving and irreverent" McCain had turned the liaison office into a "late-afternoon gathering spot where senators and staffers, usually from the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, would drop in for a drink and the chance to unwind."
In 1979, while attending a military reception in Hawaii, McCain met and fell in love with Cindy Lou Hensley, 17 years his junior, who was the daughter of James W. Hensley, a wealthy Anheuser-Busch distributor from Phoenix, Arizona. McCain filed for and obtained an uncontested divorce from his wife in Florida on April 2, 1980 and promptly married Cindy on May 17, 1980.
He resigned from the Navy in 1981 and went to work for his father-in-law in Phoenix; where he used the opportunity to make powerful and wealthy friends in Arizona including banker Charles Keating and Duke Tully, the editor-in-chief of the Arizona Republic. Keating was later convicted of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy and Tully was disgraced for concocting a phony military record of combat in Korea and Vietnam including medals for heroism.
McCain ran for Arizona's First Congressional District in 1982. McCain won the congressional seat. In 1987 McCain was elected to the Senate.
SDM sorry to hear your down in the dumps, hope you get to feeling better.!!!!
Just putting it out there that neither of our canidates have the experience that we would like them to have to be our president.
True in some areas.. BUT.. not true in most. ;)
Same is true for the article on Obama. true in some false in others
OK, OK, ttm...we get it...you're an Obamagirl. Good for you...it's better to stand for something rather than fall for anything, I guess.
Let me ask tallerthanmost.. are you of age to vote?
I'vebeen lookin tryin to find an alternative to obama and mccain both....talk about an exercise in futility! Here's all the candidates...
The two major parties' presumptive nominees are John McCain,no,
Barack Obama, for the Democratic Party,no
The Libertarian Party has nominated former Congressman Bob Barr, no
the Constitution Party has nominated pastor and radio talk show host Chuck Baldwin,HELL no
the Green Party has nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, ok maybe
Ralph Nader declined to seek the Green Party nomination and is running as an independent candidate, whatever :P
Like havin aces and eights, talk about a deadmans hand..................
You got that right.. but I will still vote for McCain.. just because I absolutely DO NOT want Obama in there..and I think any other vote will be a wasted one and will just be inadvertently a vote for Obama.
But McCain is a far far long shot on who I would call a candidate to be proud of.
Ok, so who's got the 9 of diamonds, the traditional other card?
I might.. how many chips do you want to bet? LOL
Uh, OK, as long as you don't have your gun under the table. I'll toss a blue chip and my gold earrings. 8)
No gun. under the table but I'll match that bet with a half box of ammo and raise you an old watch that works 'most of the time'.
;D
I call, watcha got?
Lol
Well...........................*peeking at my down card*..
Unlike Wild Bill Hickok's fifth card, ( there is some reason to believe that he had discarded one card... the draw was interrupted by the shooting... and he never got the fifth card he was due.) I DO have a 5th card..
I have the dead mans hand of aces and eights..
but..............
I have an Ace High kicker...
(http://www.fotosearch.com/bthumb/PDS/PDS153/SB10062633E-001.jpg)
I'm showin' a full house.
Do I have myself a pair of gold earrings?
Yes, you sure do. How about pierced hoops? I had nothing! :laugh:
pierced hoops will be just fine...
(((as Teresa walks away stashing her half box of ammo and shaking her watch hoping it will start ticking again. ))))
I get it I get it Catwoman your a McCainer right!!!!! I am for Obama and I feel I should be able to express myself just as you do Catwoman and you Teresa and youWarph without you saying ok ok we get it. And YES teresa I am well over the age to Vote? That would be like me asking you if you were of age. Wouldn't that be rude?
I meant I am well over the age to start voting.. Although maybe there should be a time when you should stop voting.Ha Ha no really!!!! Just wanted to clarify that before I got jumped once again.
Are you now................. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Quote from: tallerthanmost on July 23, 2008, 09:18:44 AM
And YES teresa I am well over the age to Vote? That would be like me asking you if you were of age. Wouldn't that be rude?
And you don't HAVE to ask me if I am of age.. I use my real name on here . I don't have to pretend that I am older than I am..or younger than I am. I'm 56 years old...
Just how old ARE you Missy.... ? :)
(( I just sent you a pm :) ))
Oh, ttm, you aren't getting jumped...and sorry for obviously antagonizing you. :-) I realize that your youth and exuberance are a big part of this. :-) Actually, you were rather missed during your long absence..you keep everything stirred up nicely!
Teresa I know how old you are and you looking pretty freakin good might I say...I just like to jump on from time to time to get your fire lit under your askit and get you going, your a very passionate person and I do admire that about you and also alot of others on here. It nice to get on this forum and be able to say what you want to write the things you believe in and not always be judged about it aleast not like when you get judged in person.I put my two cents in from time to time just to get the party jumping again but have never truely just wrote the things I believe in and all that is in my heart.. I dont discuss politics with my friends basically because I love my friends and my coworkers and most of them are republicans so why ruin friendships over politics. I am a Democrat I am proud to be a Democrat I dont hide the fact that I am a democrat and if you ask I will let you know what I believe in I just choose not to get into battles about it. Everyone is different not everyone is going to believe what you do or believe in the things that you find important in life. I dont try to change my friends opinions and they dont try to change mine it is a truse that we have. LOve and LIfe are far more important to me than battling it out with people. Alot of people thought I was young because I wont go all out on here well that is because I didnt feel I had to till now, and Im still not going to go completely there with you. I am 35 years old I am a mother of three beautiful children, I work aircraft 45 to 55 hours a week, I wake up at three thirty in the morning and I drive a hour to work normally not getting home till 6 at night. I am a single mother that gets no child support whatsoever yet I am able to pay for my own kids insurance and everything they and I need without going on wellfare and without complaining about our systems. I believe our children are our future and that they need to be educated correctly I believe every child should have insurance I believe teachers need to be paid more for what they do and for the things they need in their classrooms, I believe policemen should be paid more for protecting us .I believe its a womans choice to do with her body what ever she feels is the right thing for her in her situation without having some bigwig MAN tell her what she should do. I feel if my best friend who is a gay man wants to marry his partner it is up to him it should just be his choice not ours.
A voice of reason in the wilderness.................COOL
I dont believe in war and I wish we didnt have to be in a war situation yet I understand why we have to do it. I believe taxes suck major butt, I believe that I dont get paid far enough for the work i DO(lol) Yet I know if I dont do the job they will send it to Mexico where most of our parts at work are coming from.. I love the United States I love being a American and I love being a Democrat and I love being a Woman that has opportunities. I love my family I love my friends I love people and I love being a happy person.... I do believe in alot of things that Obama does I believe he is a good man and that his intentions are good... I believe what I believe and you believe what you do and thats ok because we live in the United States of America and thats what makes us such a good country.
Oh and Teresa now that you know who this is I love you and and I love your whole crazy wacky nutcase Republican family and You know that. So I am Stacy and I am single if you know of any good men out there let me know immediately PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST KIDDING PEOPLE DONT BE SETTING ME UP IT WAS A JOKE COMPLETELY!!!!!!
Nice to meet you Stacey, and thank you for posting! Keep up the good work!
**grinning***.My apologies.............
I thought you were your beautiful daughter...(still wondering actually.......... if mama didn't jump in to save the day??) ***still grinning even more***(http://www.rightnation.us/forums/style_emoticons/default/headscratch.gif)
Which would be the tough little Stacy I love and admire.
You DO have 3 beautiful children.. and you DO work hard and you ARE very self sufficient.. and yes.. I do love you like my own..
And even though you are NOT tallerthanmost... ;) you ARE definitely a Howell 4 ever.. *fitting alias :) Feisty little brat.. LOL
That said...
Post away sweetheart.. and I hope the Democrat man that "has good intentions" on his resume' loses big time... ;D hahahahaha
I guess we will just have to wait and see about that one. He wins I get a free MASSAGE !!!!!!!!! LOL! Anyways I believe I will post away from now on THANKS!!!
Hey, Stacey...
So nice to officially meet you! :D Uhm...I hate to let you in on this, but...at 35, you're not OLD, like some of us are (now, now, guys...old is a term relative to amount of experience...which means that I'm OLDER THAN DIRT tonight...so don't everyone dogpile me all at once, OK??!). I am very impressed with you, lady...not only are you articulate but you're also a go-getter...you really spend some long days. Your children have a reason to be very proud of their mother!